Enjoy!
#1 MacCauley Trilogy
Historical Fiction, Inspirational
Publisher: Self-Published
Published: 11.23.22
Pages: 453
Rating: 5 Stars
Format: ebook
Source: purchased
Sellers: Amazon
ADD TO: GoodReads
GoodReads Synopsis:
It's 1974. Out of the civil unrest in Northern Ireland comes a story of rescue and hope in a country setting in Midwestern America. Can two very different cultures interweave and find love?
-Gareth MacCauley, a "Child of the Troubles" in Northern Ireland, finds refuge on the Beckett farm in southern Wisconsin, USA. his mother and brother have suspiciously become part of the "Disappeared" and his father is unjustly imprisoned during Internment in Long Kesh near Belfast.
-Haley Beckett is a happy-go-lucky young girl whose peaceful farm life on County QQ is interrupted by Gareth's arrival. Who is this sullen, strange boy? Why does he scream in the night and react crazily to loud explosive noises?
-Edward Wagner lives down County QQ on his family's rich farm. He's known Haley from birth and has always loved her as he would his own sister. Even though Gareth is hostile at first, Ed's big heart enables him to bond with Gareth and help him through PTSD.
Through the years, Haley's relationship with Ed blossoms while her relationship with Gareth grows into what she believes to be a brother/sister bond. But is it? While both men form a strong bond between themselves, they also find they are both falling for Haley. Ten years after Gareth's arrival he has an opportunity to return to Northern Ireland with hopes of being with his father and finding his mother and brother. Gareth tells Edward to take good care of Haley while he's away. But Gareth is gone longer than expected and Ed fulfills his promise to care for Haley a bit more than Gareth intended. Three years later, Haley has to make a decision. She loves them both. But who is truly more than a brother to her?
Sophia Rose's Review:
Once in a while, I take a step away from my usual reading fare and find myself caught up in a gem of a read that I might otherwise have missed.
Modern historical set both in the turbulent Northern Ireland and placid Wisconsin farmlands of the 1970's-80's, this touching and, at times gripping, story follows three young people in their formative years and as they come of age to find family, deep friendship, and love. The new to me author's writing drew me in from the opening lines.
The story begins when angry, reclusive Gareth comes to live with Haley and her parents on their farm. At first, nine year old Haley has no use for the interloper and his strange ways. Her dad knows Gareth's story, but she and her mom and their nearest friends can only speculate since neither her dad nor Gareth are talking. Gareth is twelve and slowly the friendliness of a boy his age in Eddie next door as well as Haley's fresh-faced spunkiness help draw him out.
Meanwhile, the story shifts to an Ireland torn by internal war and what has become of Gareth's dad Ian, in prison. Gareth and his uncle want to find Ian, but it isn't safe and the reader can only hope Ian survives the dangers from the British interrogators, prison life, and possibly his fellow prisoners since, unlike others, Ian's politics are loyal to Britain even though they think he's IRA.
Years go by as the children grow up. Gareth is determined to go back to Northern Ireland and find his dad, mom, and brother after his uncle, a police detective gives him the all-clear that it is safe. He has become content and accustomed to living with the Becketts and thinks of them as family and the Wagners close friends. However, as he, Eddie, and Haley become older, Gareth and Haley see each other as more than siblings just as quiet, steady Eddie who plans to train as a missionary has always seen Haley as more than the neighbor girl. Emerging into adulthood, these three find that life is about to get really complicated. What will happen when Gareth leaves? Will Haley find romantic love with one of these young men?
More Than a Brother has a rich, immersive historical period and setting, well-developed characters, and a plot that builds to some suspenseful moment in the relationships, the personal growth, and the situation in Ireland.
The characters were not overly complicated, but interesting and I enjoyed seeing them grow up. I liked the way the family members were present and engaging like Haley's parents, grandparents, and aunties. I found Haley authentically to be somewhat naive and apart from the heavier, grittier matters that Gareth faced from infancy let alone when his family went through many crises that honed his personality, and Eddie being the firm friend, mature beyond his years in ways, who both could turn to.
The inspirational elements weave throughout and strong principles are evident and I particularly found Haley's dad and, even Eddie, to be salt of the earth, strong Christian types.
I confess to not being fond of the love triangle trope in romances, but I was vested in the story and found that none of the three involved were deliberately selfish or hurtful. The author didn't try to tear one character down to build another up. So, it wasn't needlessly dramatic and I could appreciate how the story revealed itself.
The story wrapped up at a good place and the ending was abrupt, but the author's note explained there was more to come to deal with leftover plot threads and further development so I am content with where it stopped. The biggest points brought out in the book were answered.
All in all, it was a fabulous reading experience and left me wanting the rest of the story as well as more of the author's work. Those who enjoy Christian fiction, stories set in the recent past, and gently paced writing should definitely pick this one up.
Jannis DeGraw Buhr loves the arts in all forms. She is an accomplished pianist, with a bachelor’s degree in music and has been teaching piano lessons for over 40 years. While she loves music and loves to paint, writing has been a passion of hers since childhood. It is her greatest avenue of creativity. She has written several novels, but finally published her novel, More Than a Brother in 2022. After the early success of More Than a Brother, Jannis completed the sequel, Anna MacCauley’s Legacy in 2023. Book Three of the MacCauley Trilogy, The Lost Cousins of County Armagh, is now available (2024).
Jannis grew up in a Christian home with parents who were in full-time music ministry which took the family to many different US states, from the South to the Mid-West to the West Coast and finally back to the Mid-West. Her writing draws from her deep-seated faith in God, her upbringing and experience with many different regional cultures.
Jannis has been married to her high school sweetheart, Mark, for over 40 years. She and her husband currently enjoy their two acres of Michigan country and their large brood of five adult children, spouses and eleven grandchildren.
The MacCauley Trilogy has required extensive research of Northern Irish history and the Troubles, which was fueled by her McElroy heritage from her mother’s side, hailing from Lurgan, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. Jannis also draws from her teen years in the 1970’s, finding Wisconsin countryside a place to breathe, explore and dream.
Sophia’s Bio:
Sophia is a quiet though curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing, piano-playing, and gardening. Road trips and campouts, museums and monuments, restaurants and theaters are her jam. Encouraged and supported by an incredible man and loving family. A Northern Californian transplant to the Great Lakes Region of the US. Lover of Jane Austen, Baseball, Cats, Scooby Doo, and Chocolate.
As a lifelong reader, it was inevitable that Sophia would discover book blogs and the joy of blog reviewing. Sophia is a prolific reader and audiobook listener which allows her to experience so many wonderful books, authors, and narrators. Few genres are outside her reading tastes, but her true love is fiction particularly history, mystery, sci-fi, and romance. Though, sorry, no horror or she will run like Shaggy and Scooby.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sophia.rose.7587
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sophiarose1816
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13418187.Sophia_Rose
Oh wow...good find Sophia. I would love this!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I read it for St.Paddy's day. :)
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